Guilderene Expanse
The Guilderene Expanse is a realm in northern and central Telluris. The term is used interchangeably to refer either to all the holdings of the Doge or the colonies of Guilder on the eastern continent. History Guilder first became known in the 330s under Doge Tumberink. It was a founding member of the Grand Coalition and quickly established a reputation for exploration and attempted colonisation. Giorno Fiassa was a noteworthy early Guilder explorer to the south. Guilder became famous for attempting to claim land that turned out already to be occupied, attempting to establish colonies all over the known world. Eventually the Doge managed to secure Maos and Rannara, on the far coast of the Lyrian Sea. During the Great Tellurian War Guilder sided with its Grand Coalition allies and launched a failed attack on Sympolemou. Previously it had also been involved in the abortive invasion of the Heartwaste that was a cause of the war. It joined forces with the rest of the Coalition to fight the Salterri Imperium in the War of the Knights of Pain some years later. In the early fifth century Tumberink's son Humperdink agreed to become a vassal of the Empire of Dawn. Humperdink also managed to claim the region of Sahra'a from the Afreet goblins and sponsored exploration into what would become known as the Clanships and the Frontier. During the Red Earth Uprising he was challenged by many of his people but managed to restore order and established a regime of great religious tolerance. He was succeeded in 423 by his son Inigo, the Contrary. Inigo continued his father's activist foreign policy but with less success. He supported the Priory of Ascension in the Wars of the Mandate, which led to reprisal attacks against Maos. He further antagonised the Imperium by stealing the Sword of the Qzares from Tailong as he lay dying and smuggling troops through Imperial territory to defend the City StatesCity States against the Greatest Kingdom of Zuiguo. He was captured in the City States, followed soon after by his son and successor Vizini. As part of the policy of cooperation with its neighbours, Guilder was a founding member of the Concordat of Frost and Flame. It soon proved, however, that Guilder was unable to reconcile its obligations for technology sharing within both the Empire of Dawn and the Concordat, each of which was exclusive of the other. The Doges had hoped that the situation could be resolved either by the Empire proper joining the Concordat or the Concordat members joining the Empire, but neither was willing. Nevertheless for the time being the Concordat members seemed to cooperate reasonably well, with Inigo and Vizini ultimately being freed from captivity by the diplomacy of the Glazfelli and Tzaltec. In the absence of Inigo and Vizini, an ambitious merchant prince named Buttercup rose to power in Guilder, with the backing of the Triumvirate, who hoped to use her to disrupt the Tzaltec slave trade. She cooperated with her sponsors, but her government was soon infiltrated by the Jaaku Na, Buttercup herself secretly converting. In 463 this became clear to the world as she unleashed mechanical combat engines built in Guilder upon the Caercian Coronation. Buttercup was slain but the incident further antagonised the Imperium, some of whose members cut off trade with Guilder, and stirred the Emperor of Dawn from his long disregard of Guilder's affairs. To the chagrin of the Concordat he demanded that the engines be destroyed for the good of the world, and that Guilder honour its obligations to share with the Empire the technologies gleaned from the Concordat, without reciprocation. Guilder withdrew from the Concordat as a consequence. Guilder now found itself at odds with its former allies and attempted to cultivate relations with the orcs to the east. This backfired disastrously when it appeared that Guilderene agents had attempted but failed to assassinate Urindak Stormskull. The resulting confusion and invasions by Stormskull's followers and rivals sparked the ruinous Sunset War. During the war, Doge Vizini disappeared, presumed killed while confronting Stormskull, and his son Wesley captured and "re-educated" by the Tzaltec. In the settlement, Guilder lost its three easternmost regions, the Expanse curtailed to Maos and Rannara once more. In light of Wesley's apparent incapability his wife Kuku Lelian of Penoccident took over as regent (or "acting Doge"). Her reign was marked by "Dogal memos" expressing points of Guilderene policy both internally and to the world. Given Wesley's beliefs Guilder also began to take more of a position in religious affairs, aligning itself more closely with the Doctrine of Frost. Category:Realms Category:Lesser Vassals Category:Former Great Kingdoms